Top Chef All Stars: Richard Blais is Top Chef

I liked the change to the Top Chef finale format, having it between two instead of three.

I thought Wednesday night's Top Chef finale was the best in Top Chef history.

The judges judged that the food coming from the Richard Blais kitchen and the Mike Isabella kitchen was the best in Top Chef history.

I liked how all the Top Chef's from the All Star season were brought to the Bahamas for the finale.

The Quickfire where the returned chefs had to make an amuse bouche, with Isabella and Blais then picking their 3 favorites, with the makers of those favorites being their sous chefs for the final Elimination Challenge, was a clever way to pick the sous chefs.

When Isabella and Blais discussed who they did not want helping, Isabella said he did not want Jamie. So, of course Isabella picked Jamie's amuse bouche.

But that worked out fine. In the end, Isabella was happy with Jamie's help.

Isabella's other sous chefs were Carla and Tiffini, while Blais got Spike, Angelo and Antonia.

The finale challenge was sort of like Restaurant Wars on steroids. Mike and Richard had an hour to prepare a menu and 5 hours to cook. And they also had to make the restaurant of their dreams.

The Richard Blais restaurant was named "Tongue in Cheek," while Isabella's was something like "Iz's."

All the judges were impressed with all the food. Making it very hard to pick a winner.

In the end they picked Richard Blais to be Top Chef.

All the other chefs got to watch the final judgment, along with Mike Isabella's wife and mother. Richard's wife was about to have a baby, so an uncle was his relative in the room.

When they were in the Stew Room, Richard told Mike that if he won the $200,000 he'd give Mike money so he could start his restaurant too.

I doubt either of these two will have a problem getting financing for a restaurant. Richard already has a company called TrailBlais and a modern hamburger joint called "Flip."

Starting last December Richard has been hosting a show on The Science Channel called Blais Off, in which he uses his scientific cooking methods to re-invent classic foods.

I was sort of surprised to learn that Mike Isabella had a wife and had reproduced. You could sort of tell he may have gotten his good looks from his mother.

I've yet to watch the Watch What Happens Live show to see who won fan favorite. My guess is Antonia. Or Carla.

Is the Top Chef All Stars Winner Richard Blais or Mike Isabella?

Tonight is the Top Chef All Stars finale, I think, where we learn if it is Richard Blais or Mike Isabella who wins Top Chef All Stars.

I'm okay with either winning. Yes, Mike Isabella has an annoying personality. But, the more exposure I got to that annoying personality, the less I found him annoying.

I was disappointed that Antonia lost the one bite challenge against her new found Isabella cousin and that it was not she, rather than Isabella who was in the final two with Blais.

One thing about Mike Isabella that you can not deny. He has improved on his cooking from when we first met him. And he came prepared to cook Caribbean food in the Bahamas.

I've seldom seen a guy who is so hard on himself as Richard Blais. He is so good at cooking you'd think he'd be real confident about it. Maybe it's the constant self-doubting that makes him so good.

There was a little buzz on the Internet that former Top Chef winner, Hosea, was going to be real happy if Mike Isabella wins, because, supposedly, this would have Isabella replacing Hosea as the most undeserving winner.

Methinks not.

Earlier in the Top Chef All Stars season, when there was speculation that Mike  Isabella wins, I opined that this would be a travesty worse that when that awful Mike "Boogie" Malin person, who was definitely not a Big Brother All Star, won Big Brother All Stars. This was an absurdity so offputting that I've never watched another episode of Big Brother.

That will not be my reaction if Mike Isabella wins Top Chef All Stars tonight. But, I hope Richard Blais wins.

Top Chef All Stars: Tiffany Derry Pack Her Knives & Goes While Mike Isabella Wins 3rd Elimination Challenge in a Row

The highlight for Top Chef's Episode 14: Island Fever, for Mike Isabella, in addition to winning his 3rd Elimination Challenge in a row, was walking onto a dock to find himself greeted by Padma in a bikini.

Padma in a bikini came after the Quickfire Challenge.

The guest judge this week was a Latin chef named Lorena Garcia, who apparently is about to host a new NBC show called America's Next Great Restaurant.

For the Quickfire the boys cooked against the girls. The two teams had one hour to make 100 plates with a perfectly consistent dish on each plate. With Padma and Lorena judging who did best.

Of course, the consistently insufferable Isabella was quite dismissive of the inferior simplistic dish the girls churned out, while his was pure daring with his handmade noodles.

But, Padma and Lorena gave the girls the win, which thoroughly annoyed Mike and Richard Blais.

Tiffany and Antonia shared  $5,000 for their win.

The next morning was when Padma greeted the four remaining chefs in a bikini. The four hopped aboard a boat to be floated to an island where they were to make a celebration dinner for the Nassau Yacht Club's 80th year in business.

The chefs were told the meal had to include the Bahama staple.

Conch.

Arriving on the island the chefs found their supply of food to work with. But no conch. And then realized they were expected to go snorkeling for the conch.

As the chefs were gearing up for snorkeling, we cut to a Richard Blais confessional where he said something like, "I don't think anyone wants to see Isabella topless. I know I don't."

Then we cut to Isabella topless.

Blais was right. But I also would have included him among those I really did not want to see topless.

I was a little surprised that the conch were so easy to find. I suspect the seabed had been salted by Top Chef producers with an ample supply of the shellfish. Or are they really that prolific in such a populated area?

The cooking conditions were very primitive. Wood fires for heat, grills to cook on. No electricity, few tools. Lots of sand.

But, there were hammer-like pick tools to whack at the conch shells. That was unpleasant to watch. Why did they not notice Mike Isabella's sticking the conch in hot water to get the meat out method?

After much angst the three hours of cooking was over with the arrival of the Yacht Club's Commodore and his crew, plus Padma, Tom, Gail and Lorena.

The non-judges seemed to like everything. The judges found something wrong with all the chef's dishes.

With Tiffany having the biggest wrong with her chowder that had chilled to cold from its intended hot.

Mike won for his conch wrapped in a banana leaf, along with other stuff stuffed in that leaf. I thought for sure he was a goner due to having added butter to the mix, with Lorena saying she did not like how greasy the butter made the dish, and with Tom also making a fuss about the butter being all wrong.

But, for some reason, unfathomable to me, they gave the Insufferable Isabella the win, which of course will make him even more insufferable.

It will be sort of amusing if Isabella wins Top Chef All Stars. The backlash from viewers will be a fun spectacle to watch, if that happens.

Top Chef All Stars: Mike Isabella Wins Again While Carla Goes Home

Mike Isabella was back being his insufferable self again this week on Top Chef. For a few minutes, last week, he was almost likable, acting normal, instead of being a boorish braggart.

Isabella won last week's Elimination Challenge. And won again this week, putting him in the Final Four, which just seems wrong.

Then again, Isabella seems to finally be performing in a way that matches the bragging.

In the Quickfire Challenge the chefs had to cook against the chef who won their season of Top Chef.

Isabella was up against Michael Voltaggio. No match. I thought. But, Isabella won. Getting either 5 or 10 thousand bucks, I can't remember which.

Tiffany and Richard also beat the chef who one their season.

And then we get to the Elimination Challenge. The finals are in the Bahamas. The chefs were told they were to cook for Bahamian Royalty. None of them knew that the Queen of England is the sovereign reigning over the Bahamas.

So, it came as a shock when they were brought to a sort of Mardis Gras type celebration cooking for the King of Junkanoo.

After doing their prep the chefs were brought to the restaurant where they'd be cooking and met the King. Not long in to the cooking a deep fryer went to flames. The fire department arrived. Chemicals got on the food. They had to start over.

Now that they knew it was not snooty royalty they'd be cooking for Antonia decided to simplify what she was cooking. That ended up not working out so well.

And for some reason Carla decided to deep-fry pork, with some of the pork being served raw, with some of that raw pork going to some of the judges. Which is what sent Carla home.

Richard Blais was in the top with Isabella. Richard sure is one insecure guy for being so good at what he does. He is like the opposite of Isabella.

Isabella, who has now won two Elimination Challenges in a row. And a Quickfire Challenge against one of Top Chef's all time best winners. I expect the insufferablity to amp up next week.

It won't pain me too much if Isabella wins. But, shouldn't he get some sort of penalty for excessively sweating into the food he is cooking? I know I would not want to eat what he cooks and seasons with his own salty sweat.

Top Chef All-Stars: No Final Four--All Five Remaining in Finals in the Bahamas

This week's episode of Top Chef was my favorite Top Chef episode ever.

It started with the five remaining chefs, Antonia Lofaso, Mike Isabella, Carla Hall, Richard Blais and Tiffany Derry being surprised to have Padma show up in their loft.

Padma directed the chefs to the roof where she pointed out Ellis Island and told them she'd be meeting them there.

Onboard the ferry to Ellis Island the chefs discover a note telling them that when the boat whistle blows they have til it blows again to make a dish from the limited supplies in the boat's pantry.

The whistle blew and much mayhem ensued as the chefs tried to make something tasty out of items like tortilla chips, hot dogs, cheese, buns and oranges.

In the end, when the whistle blew after docking on Ellis Island, Padma and guest judge, Dan Barber, came onboard to taste the food. After tasting it, it was decided that Carla's orange concoction tasted best.

Then it was on to the Elimination Challenge.

The chefs were told that a famous genealogist had been researching their family histories. And that some special people were arriving to help the chefs sort it out.

At that Antonia's mom, Mike's mom, Carla's husband, Richard's wife and Tiffany's mom walked in.

With their family member the chef's went through the info trying to figure out their heritage and what food to cook to honor that heritage.

It was around this point that the impossible happened. Mike Isabella began to turn likable. He'd not seen his mom for 6 months. We heard the story of Mike's Italian grandma teaching him to cook. And how ever since she died he could never bring himself to cook Italian dishes that she had taught him. Which was the dish he decided to cook for the challenge.

And then Antonia, looking through her history, made the shocking discovery that her arch nemesis, and she, were cousins. With that nemesis being Mike Isabella. It was darn charming watching Antonia and Mike's relationship change after they learned they were cousins. With Mike now rooting for his new cousin to make it to the finals.

Then it was off to Whole Foods to shop. Then 3 hours to cook.

The family members joined Padma, Tom, Gail and Dan Barber for the feeding.

As the dishes rolled out, one by one, nary a negative word was spoken. Tom and Gail and Padma asked questions of the relatives about the chefs. From that we learned Carla met her husband on Match.com.

After all the chefs had rolled out their food, and Tom remarked that it was all good, wondering how they could make the choice of a winner and who to send home, I think it was Antonia's mom who suggested sending all 5 to the finals.

Back in the Stew Room the chefs waited their fate. Padma summoned them all. Each talked about their inspiration. Again Mike Isabella was likable. None of that blowhard blustering he usually does. There may have been tears.

After some discussion Antonia got the win and the guaranteed spot in the Final 4. And a brand new 2011 Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

Then Mike was told he was in and he could head to the Stew Room. Arriving there the two new cousins celebrated.

Richard was getting nervous. And might I add, his wife is very good-looking and was 5 months along with their 2nd kid. Padma then said to the very nervous Richard, "Please pack your knives." Long pause. "And take them to the Bahamas. You're in. You can return to the Stew Room." Richard looked as if he was about to explode and then he turned very relieved.

Go to break. After the commercials, Padma says Carla's name. Long wait, waiting for the pack your knives and go home message. Then Padma says Tiffany's name. Another long wait. And then, "You're both going to the Bahamas!"

Tom said they could not come to a decision because everyone had done so well.

I love it when I watch a Reality TV Show and I find myself changing my mind about someone. Previously I thought it would be travesty if Mike Isabella went to the finals after chefs like Angelo and Dale were sent packing. And I thought if Isabella turned out to be the winner of Top Chef All-Stars that this would be a bigger joke than when the repugnant non-All-Star, Mike "Boogie" Malin, won Big Brother All-Stars.

Now, I'm okay if Mike Isabella wins. It won't be a travesty. But, I want Carla or Antonia to win. I like both a lot.

Top Chef All Stars: Dale Wins $30K While Angelo Packs His Knives & Goes

For a couple weeks the part of the internet that comments about Top Chef has had some with supposed inside info saying that there was going to be a surprising Cheftestant sent home this week.

And there was. Padma told Angelo Sosa to pack his knives and go.

Last week it was not too shocking that the likable Fabio got the knife cut. But Angelo failing while making something simple like soup, was unexpected.

The Quickfire and Elimination Challenges have really gone up a notch for Top Chef All Stars.

Last week's Jimmy Fallon Birthday Lunch was a good one. Making a fancified versions of Jimmy Fallon's favorite. Like Top Ramen and Burger and Fries.

Fabio turned a Burger, or Booger as he pronounced it, into Meatloaf and Fries. Which got him the boot.

This week's Cookie Quickfire Challenge was amusing with 3 Sesame Street characters doing the judging. I have never watched Sesame Street, but I did know who the Cookie Monster is.

Dale Talde won the Quickfire and $5,000. Richard Blais and Angelo's cookies where the least favorite, Blais' because it was not a cookie, but was instead something he froze with zucchini in it using liquid nitrogen. I forget why Angelo's cookie was not liked.

The Elimination Challenge was a strange one. The Chefs were taken to an empty Super Target at midnight. Then given 3 hours to collect all they needed to make 100 portions for Target employees arriving at 3am.

It was exhausting.to watch. And exhausting for the chefs. Finding everything from tables to cooking irons to spoons to salt.

Unfortunately, Angelo found too much salt, rendering his soup inedible, according to Tom Colicchio, who could barely tolerate one spoonful.

Carla wasted a lot of time looking for a table cloth. Which cut her soup cooking time short, which ended up putting her in the bottom three, along with Angelo and Tiffany, who used too much of a spice blend she found in the Target spice section.

Dale used an iron to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Not a cooking iron. An iron your clothes type iron. He also made tomato soup. Antonia was in the top 3 due to her well made egg dish. Richard Blais rounded up the top 3. I've already forgotten what he made.

Dale's iron grilled cheese got him the win and the biggest prize in Top Chef history. $25,000.

I had expected Angelo to be in the finals and likely win. Mike Isabella was more likable this episode. I can't believe he has lasted longer than Angelo. Now I want Antonia to win. She is very likable. Dale sort of grows on me too, what with his snarky one-liners in his confessionals.

Top Chef All Stars: Tre Wilcox Packs His Knives & Goes While Antonia Wins With Mussels

Watching Wednesday night's latest episode of Top Chef All Stars I was sure we were finally going to get Mike Isabella of our TV screens. Instead it was the much less annoying Tre Wilcox who had to pack his knives and go for bad risotto.

Risotto gets so many TV chefs in trouble. risotto is a regular woe on Hell's Kitchen. I don't know that I have ever had risotto.

Apparently Tre messed up his risotto real bad. Did not cook the rice right and then drowned it with other stuff.

Isabella made pasta, from scratch, badly. And then undercooked it. Apparently it was his sauce that saved him.

Mike Isabella is sort of amusing. He is so ridiculously cocky. Makes rude remarks about what the others make, like Antonia's mussels and Tiffany's polenta, while both were among the favorites of the night, along with Carla and Fabio.

Antonia's mussels were the winning dish. Which really annoyed Isabella.

And then what is further amusing about Mike Isabella is his confidence is so fragile. He puts on a big act of confidence while his inner voice is telling him he totally mucked it up. He was so sure he had this challenge nailed, what with him being Italian and it being Italian food they were cooking.

With the cooking taking place in a famed New York City restaurant called Rao's, that I'd never heard of til last night. Apparently it is impossible to get a reservation at Rao's. The place has only 10 tables, with each table only doing one seating per night. Regulars have ongoing reservations. If they can't make it they can send someone in their place. Seats get auctioned off. Apparently this is the way Tom Colicchio ate at Rao's his one and only time.

Richard Blais won the Quickfire Challenge and Immunity with black ice cream. The challenge was to make your dish look good, how it tasted was irrelevant.

Antonia Lafaso did not win anything extra for winning the Elimination Challenge. I like Antonia. She thinks it is time Mike Isabella gets told to pack his knives and go.

Top Chef All Stars: Marcel Vigneron Packs His Knives & Goes After Restaurant Wars Disaster

I have no idea why Marcel is on a beach with Padma.

The latest episode of Top Chef All Stars started off with Dale winning a strange Quickfire Challenge. The Chefs had to slice up 2 fish to frying portions, approved by a master fish slicer, Justo Thomas of the famed Le Bernardin.

The top 4 slicers then had to cook a dish using the remains of the fish they had just gutted. Dale Talde used the liver in the dish he made, which seemed to be what gave him the win.

Then it was off to Padma who informed them that the Chefs were about to fight in Restaurant Wars. As part of his Quickfire win Dale got to lead one restaurant and pick the other restaurant's leader.

Dale wisely picked Marcel to lead the other restaurant, obviously figuring that Marcel would self-destruct. Which is what happened.

Marcel has zero leader skills. He is good at pissing people off.

The restaurants had to be something called a "Pop-Up" Restaurant, that I really did not understand. The guest judge was a volatile Frenchy who we saw be volatile on Top Chef Masters,  Ludo LeFebvre, who, apparently has a successful "Pop-Up" Restaurant.

Dale's restaurant was called Bodega. Marcel's was Etch.

The guests did the judging in this Restaurant Wars.

As the restaurants opened and Etch spun out of control, it was fairly clear that Bodega was a smoother operation, with Fabio running the front like a master, while Tiffany was Etch's greeter and a disaster at it.

Back at Judges' Table Padma called Etch first to the table, giving them some hope they'd actually won. This hope was quickly dashed. Meanwhile back in the Stew Room, Richard Blais was sure Bodega had lost.

At first the losers were reticent to point fingers. Then Marcel said yet one more dumb Marcel thing, which set off everyone, but Angelo, pointing at Marcel as the cause of their epic fail.

In the end, Richard Blais won Restaurant Wars and $10,000, while Marcel Vigneron was sent packing.

In his Bravo Top Chef Blog, Anthony Bourdain is amusing, as always, in his blogging about Restaurant Wars he is particularly amusing about what it must be like to live in "Marcel Land."

Top Chef All Stars: Tiffani Faison & Jamie Lauren Pack Their Knives and Go

Jamie Lauren finally came to her well-deserved end on Top Chef All Stars, after outlasting, by dubious means, chefs pretty much universally acknowledged to be much better chefs, such as Jennifer Carroll, Spike Mendelsohn and Casey Thompson.

This week's episode started with the Top Chef All Stars alarmed out of bed at an early hour, soon to learn they were heading to Montauk, on the far east end of Long Island.

Arriving at Montauk the chefs found Padma and Tom Collicchio waiting to divide them into four teams of 3. With the four teams sent to 2 fishing boats. Where each team had to catch enough fish to feed something like 200 people back in the New York City zone, on a beach across from Manhattan.

Watching the chefs catch fish was amusing. Angelo has a fear of the water due to seeing Jaws too many times. I think little Dale Talde caught the biggest fish.

The team of Richard Blais, Fabio and Marcel decided to make one dish together. This turned out to be a bad idea, landing them up for Elimination. Antonio Lofaso, who I like, got stuck with Tiffani and Jamie, who had the worst fish dishes, while the judges told Antonio her dish may have won had she not been stuck with the teammates she was stuck with.

In the end, fan favorite, Carla.Hall won. And along with winning the Elimination Challenge, Carla also won a trip to Amsterdam.

Next week's previews make it appear as if there will be a lot of cooking mayhem. Just like the previews make it appear every week.

Top Chef All Stars: Casey Thompson Packs Her Knives & Leaves Because of Bad Chicken Feet

Incompetent Jamie keeps on cooking badly, while good chefs get sent home on Top Chef All Stars.

First Jen Carroll, then Spike Mendelsohn. And now Casey Thompson have been rolled over by the Jamie steamroller.

After a couple week absence the first Top Chef episode of the New Year started off annoying, with creepy Mike Isabella winning the Quickfire Challenge, getting both immunity from elimination and a brand new Toyota Prius.

Isabella was as insufferable winning as you can imagine. And then was a mess handling the dim sum expediting on the bizarre Dim Sum Elimination Challenge.

Now, I know a lot of the actual Top Chef All Stars, like Bryan Voltaggio, and others, turned down being on TC All Stars because they were too busy. But were the producers so desperate that they had no other options but to add Isabella as an All Star? Do not they read the Internet TV Forums. Viewers can not stand this guy.

Putting Mike Isabella on Top Chef All Stars is as bizarre as Big Brother putting the repugnant non-All Star, Mike "Boogie" Malin, on Big Brother All-Stars. Boogie won BB All Stars. Does this portend an equally bizarre ending to Top Chef All-Stars?

The Quickfire with Tom Colicchio whipping out a dish at warp speed, with the Chefs then having to whip out a dish just as fast, well, that was entertaining. Except for Isabella winning.

Dale's attempt at Pad Thai was a disaster in the Quickfire. Not a good omen for the Elimination Challenge. Which Dale won anyway, despite his Quickfire woes. But, Dale got no good prize for winning, nothing, no car, nothing.

The Elimination Challenge seemed a setup for failure. Cooking in an alien kitchen in New York City's Chinatown. And then making 2 of the chefs be the dim sum servers. That is just wrong. If you are testing how well they do as chefs, why throw such a curve? Casey and super lovable Carla volunteered to be the servers, leaving the final preparation of their dishes to their competitors.

How fair is that?

Carla's spring rolls did not require much help. But, Casey's chicken feet did. Antonio was supposed to send out Casey's feet, but didn't. At some point Casey headed back to the kitchen to work on her feet. But it was too late.

Everyone hated Jamie's two dishes. Everyone also hated Casey's. Everyone thought it would be Jamie who was sent packing, including Jamie.

Instead it was my Fort Worth neighbor, Casey Thompson, who Padma told to pack her knives and go. Somehow I think Casey was not all that sad to be free of that madhouse.

From next week's previews it appears the chefs will be cooking on a boat, along with fishing. Will Jamie slide on by another week? Or will someone throw her overboard?

Top Chef All Stars: Dale Levitski & Stephen Asprinio Out While Dale Talde Wins

I'm thinking if Top Chef All Stars keeps up being as good as it is being, that Top Chef will be winning its second Emmy in a row as Best Reality TV Show.

The latest episode was titled, "New York's Finest." This was not a reference to the police, but to New York's finest restaurants.

Which, apparently, are chef David Burke's Townhouse, David Chang's Ma Peche, Wylie Dufresne's wd-50 and Michael White's Marea.

The episode started with a Quickfire Challenge, judged, by, I think David Chang. Divided into 4 teams, the chefs had to properly prepare 4 ingredients, then cook them into something tasty. The winners got $5,000 each.

I forget who was on the team that won, but it was not Angelo's team, his was among the two that Chang liked least, which embarrassed Angelo, due to the fact that his team completed the preparation challenge first, had a big lead, and were the only team with enough time to cook the lamb.

For the Elimination Challenge the same teams visited New York's 4 Finest Restaurants. Were served those restaurant's food. And then had to make up a dish that fit in with that restaurant's chef's style.

I wanted to eat at each of those restaurants.

Angelo got on Tiffany's nerves with his constant analysis while they were tasting the food. That was pretty funny. Did Angelo get on Tiffany's nerves during their season together and we just did not get to see it?

Padma, Tom and the rest of the judges dropped in on the 4 restaurants to sample what the chefs had come up with. The owner of that restaurant decided what he liked least and best.

In the end, standing before Judges' Table at the bottom were Tiffani Faison, Dale Levitski, Fabio Viviani and Stephen Asprinio.

I find Stephen really funny to watch, due to him being such an odd pretentious little duck. I like Dale due to his comments, but, when I see him, I always think he needs a good scrubbing with an astringent soap and something to keep his eyes from watering.

But it was not Stephen being an odd little duck or Dale's watery eyes that got them told to pack their knives and get out of there. It was their food. Dale combined french toast with peanuts and popcorn and veal. Stephen's was just an all around mess.

For the winners, the way the commenting was going I thought it was going to be Angelo Sosa's 3rd win in a row, but instead the win went to the formerly angry, Dale Talde. Who is very happy when he wins. He even smiled. For winning, he won a trip to, I think it was New Zealand. I'm fairly certain it was not New England.

Along with Dale and Angelo, also at the top were Richard Blais and Antonio Lofaso.

I am liking Richard Blais this time around. He has a way of growing on you, I guess. That and he just seems way more natural than the somewhat forced way he acted during his initial Top Chef season. The other chef that I'm finding I like a lot more this time around in Marcel Vigneron. He still has this cocky way about him, but it seems to be mixed with a humble aspect that was not there before. And he is funny.

I'm liking Casey Thompson a lot too. I liked her on her season too. And then there was that unfortunate sous vide, or whatever you call it, suggestion she made to Carla, that messed Carla up in the finals of Carla's season.

Casey's restaurant is in my neighborhood. I could walk over and say howdy, if I had the energy, and she was available to be howdied.